Author: Dina

You know we’ve used those packets for years but they just don’t compare to homemade cocoa. Here’s a cocoa recipe that I borrowed from my high school friend Lisa. I just made it and it was so yummy and easy! Even better I made it lactose free…which is the reason I can’t drink those packets of cocoa.

1 large coffee mug full of lactose free milk put in microwave for 1.5 minutes (you can use regular milk) I used 2% lactose free milk
1 large overflowing teaspoon (looked more like 2 tsp) of nutella
1 tsp of cocoa (estimated since I used what was left in the Hershey’s can)

OMGoodness it was too die for! So glad I have a cocoa recipe I can make for me and my lactose intolerant son. Yay for cocoa!

If you want to make homemade baby food. But you aren’t quite sure how to properly store it, you will need to know the basics before even making the food. You don’t want the food to spoil after it has been made, so check out the tips to properly storing the food you have whipped up for your little one.

Ice Cube Tray – Freezer Bag Method

With the ice cube or freezer bag method of freezing baby food you will need:

Ice cube trays
Freezer bags
Plastic wrap

TIPS:

Thoroughly wash the trays before use

Advantages:

Each cube is approximately 1ounce, which allows you to easily measure your child’s food.
Ice cube trays are cheap.
Since you only use a cube or two of food at a time, waste is minimal.
You can make several trays of food at once.

Directions:

Spoon pureed foods into the cubes and freeze. When frozen, pop the food cubes as needed. If you made large batches, pop out the food and store them in freezer bags. Be sure to label the bags with the type of food and the date the foods were frozen. Most foods can keep for a month in this manner.

Storing Homemade Baby Food in the Refrigerator

With this method, you will need:

Individual serving containers with lids

TIPS:

Never feed your baby directly from a container and then re-store that container.
Food only keeps for three days in this method.

Advantages:

It’s the easiest method for storing, but the hardest in that you have to make food often.

Directions:

Mash and mix the food as you would, then portion it in containers. Label with the food type, date and time, and place toward the back of the refrigerator.

Reheating food:

Allow frozen food to thaw in the refrigerator.
You should try not to microwave the baby food as this will cause pockets of hot food that can burn baby’s mouth.
If you must microwave the food, stir it thoroughly and let stand at least one minute before feeding it to baby. Test with your finger to make sure it isn’t too warm.
For best reheating, allow to sit the refrigerator for at least two hours (if frozen) then place in a sauce pan of hot water for three minutes. Stir and serve.

Other tips to remember:

Never freeze anything in glass jars. The glass can and will crack, contaminating food. This even goes for store bought baby food.
You can reuse some plastic containers and freeze them, as well.
Do not reheat food in plastic containers, as this can melt the containers.
Do not re-freeze completely thawed food.

On this anything but typical Monday morning Jenna Scali, who works part-time for a shrink, opens an email that depicts the brutal death of a young girl. On that same day the police uncover a dead coed two blocks from Jenna’s house. The e-murderer’s description creepily echos the death described in the newspapers.

When Jenna receives other emails, she takes what she knows to the police and thus begins her journey in the path of the e-murderer. Her curious nature impels her from e-messages to dead coeds to a ring of prostitutes. With the help of her quirky friends, Jenna learns that she’s more than a conduit for the killer. She’s his target. New secrets unfold, and finally her love life takes a tumble when the true killer emerges.

THE E-MURDERER is a race to find a psychotic killer before he kills again.

This new mystery series with a young female sleuth promises to keep you glued to your seat until the last page.

The author is giving away two prizes: One, a $15 Amazon or BN Gift card (their choice) and Two, a signed copy of the award-winning book, The Clock Strikes Midnight.

About the author:

Joanis an award-winning writer who has published 6 books and numerous stories. Readers compare her to the great Southern writer, Fanny Flagg. “She writes characters and a story that will stay with you.”

Her debut mystery/suspense novel, The Clock Strikes Midnight, won the silver medal for fiction/suspense in the Global eBook Awards for 2015 and is a finalist for the Royal Palm Literary Award. The e-Murderer won first place in the Malice Domestic Grants competition for new writers.

Joan has been an avid reader for as long as she can remember. She reads all kinds of books, including women’s fiction, mysteries, biography, and nonfiction. Mystery/suspense with a psychological twist is exactly the kind of book Joan loves to read.

“I write about characters who remind me of myself at times and my sister at times, but never fully so. My stories are told from a woman’s point of view with a destiny. Characters drive my writing and my reading.”

Having grown up in the South with a mother from Westchester County New York, Joan has a unique take on blending the Southern traditions with the eye of a Northerner. She spent most of her childhood in North Carolina and now resides in Athens, Georgia.

The world is filled with many choices for careers. This is why so many people have a hard time deciding what they want to do with their lives. Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life. This is why your decision must be given a lot of thought and not rushed in any way. If you have always loved to read, and you excelled in creative writing class while you were in school, you might want to consider a career as an author. Why should you be an author? Here are a few of the main reasons.

1. Lifestyle

Most people do not like getting up early in the morning and going off to a job for eight hours each day, five days a week. If you are an author like Daniel Handler, you will make your own hours. You can write whenever you want. You will be your own boss and set your own schedule. You can also work from home. You will not need to worry about annoying coworkers or office politics ever again. One of the most attractive things about being an author is the fact that you can do your writing anywhere. You do not even need to have an Internet connection. If you are traveling, just bring your laptop or tablet with you. Whenever you have some free time, you can turn on your device and do some writing. When your manuscript is ready to be sent to your agent or publisher, you do not need to worry about it getting lost in the mail. You can simply email it.

2. Be your own boss

It is the dream of most people to be their own boss. Going to work every day, only to be screamed at by an angry boss can be a horrible experience. Millions of people endure this type of situation because they need the paycheck. However, authors control their own destiny. They decide what they want to do, and when they want to do it.

3. Notoriety

Successful authors often achieve some level of fame. This is something that you could never hope to achieve working at a regular office job. It is always nice to be recognized by people who appreciate your work. Developing loyal fans is a great benefit of writing a book that many people in the public respond to.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bestway for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

My kids love to have a party in the summer. It’s so much fun to get out with them and their friends when they are all finally out of school. Why not host a party for your kids to celebrate the end of the school year. Here’s how to make your kids summer party the most fun!

1. First feature the H2OGO!water slide. It gets the kids off the couch and takes away the ouch of the other water slides. You slide down an 18 ft water slide into a pool of water and do not belly flop in. You just glide right in. Check out this great informative video.

2. Have fun drinks available that are refreshing and cute enough to put an umbrella in. For instance make some cherry limeaid or coconut blue water. Add an umbrella and enjoy your drink out by the H2OGO! slide and kids.

3. Have plenty of towels available so that they can dry off when they get tired. Then give them a healthy snack of fruits and veggies. Let them picnic outside under the trees in the shade.

4. Set up stations around the yard. Have the H2OOGO! as one station. It comes in a single, double or triple for more fun to be had racing your friends. Other stations you can set up are: sidewalk chalk with hopscotch, four square with a ball and four squares drawn, volleyball or even croquet. Then rotate them in 10 minute increments so everyone gets to do something fun for a good long time.

5. When the party is all finished. Go inside and play a quiet game of Go fish or memory at the table and let them learn while they play. This also brings the fun down a bit to get them calm for time to go home. What kid doesn’t love to play board games or cards?

The point of having a party is to have fun. When you use the H2OGO! in conjunction with your party your kids are sure to have a blast. So get ready for summer and get ready to party.

H2OGO! is giving away a slide to a lucky reader! To enter, simply comment below with you fun summer time party ideas! How would you use the H2OGO! slide as the center piece?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DairyPure Milk for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

I made a delicious recipe last night using DairyPure milk. This milk is fresh from local dairies and meets their 5 point purity promise. They use no artificial growth hormones.* Their milk is tested for antibiotics. They continuously test for quality to ensure its purity. The cows are fed a healthy diet only. This milk is cold shipped fresh from your local dairy. That makes it a milk I want to feed my family all the time. Learn more about DairyPure milk and check out my quiche recipe I made for dinner. It’s quick to throw together and yummy for kids and adults alike.

It’s almost the weekend. I can feel it in the air. It’s getting warmer and thus calling us all to get outside and play. This weekend we plan on unplugging for a while and just being with our kids. My daughter is learning how to ride her bike. So we will go for a long bike ride like we used too when they were smaller and had training wheels. We’ll take a picnic lunch and ride all the way to the lake to have our picnic. Then we’ll swim a bit and ride back home. We’re going to unplug the rest of the day too. We love to play board games with the kids. We usually play Life or yahtzee or even uno. Fun games and fun times are had with our kids. Sometimes we will grab some rented movies and all hang out on the couch watching a favorite movie of the entire family. They won’t always be here. We have one graduating soon. Got to grab that time while we can.

When we do hang out and watch movies we have to have our JOLLY TIME Pop Corn and some chocolate covered raisins. Would you like to Unplug Pop Connect? Why not visit the site and take their pledge? Then you can follow them at JOLLY TIME Pop Corn on Facebook When you visit the Unplug Pop Connect page and take the pledge as a family you can get a high value coupon for JOLLY TIME and or win a prize package from them. How fun would that be? Either way you’d be winning to unplug and spend time with your family. They’re only little for a short time so why not enjoy them, get off your devices and have some fun.

and

This product is nothing short of awesome! It will add flavor and a wonderful taste to all of your food. You can read Tammie’s review of it by going HERE CattleBoyZ Manufactures a line of Award Winning Gourmet BBQ Sauces that are available at all Safeway locations in the U.S. The sauces come in three flavors (Original, Chipotle Maple Bacon and Sweet Chili) and can be purchased online as well. CattleBoyZ bbq sauces and seasoning/rubs are Gluten Free, MSG Free, have No Allergens. They are also quite versatile in their applications. The bottles can also be repurposed for home made wines, beers, creams, infused oils, etc.

Winner will be notified by email and have 24 hours to respond or another will be chosen. pankuch1605@hotmail.com is the email it will come from.

Must be 18+ to enter

Void where prohibited by law

Full terms and conditions are the entry form below

Enter below and Good Luck to you~

Disclosure- [MoreFromMom] was not compensated either by free product or payment. I have not been compensated for this post. All opinions and experiences are my own. Open to the US, must be 18+. Confirmed Winner(s) will be contacted by email and have 24 hours to respond before a new winner will be drawn. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. Entrants must only enter with either one email address, IP address and/or Facebook account, anyone found violating these rules will be disqualified. It is at the sole discretion of the admin of the giveaway if the winner has met the rules or not. The sponsor(s) will be responsible for product shipment to winner(s) of the giveaway. Sponsor will be responsible for prize fulfillment. This event is in no way associated with, sponsored, administered, or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, Google, Pinterest or any other social media network. The disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. For questions about this giveaway or to have me promote your product, Please email Tammie at info@tpankuch.com.

Imperfect Women and Forever Romance are excited to bring you this awesome giveaway along with author Sandy James. This giveaway will feature Sandy’s latest romance novel, Fringe Benefits. This new book in Sandy’s The Ladies Who Lunch series is on sale April 21.

Here is a little info on Sandy’s latest fabulous release:

When life gets tough and love is hard to find, four friends take their troubles to lunch. High school teacher Danielle Bradshaw deserves a happily ever after, and the Ladies Who Lunch are determined to deliver Mr. Right.

HOT FOR TEACHER

As the new head of the English department, Dani doesn’t have much time for anything but lesson planning and literature. Romance–or even sex? Forget about it. But then the principal introduces her to last-minute hire Nate Ryan. Finding time to mentor a new teacher won’t be easy, especially when his incredible body and equally disarming charisma are enough to make her heart skip a beat . . .

Nate may be fresh out of school, but he’s confident in his teaching skills–and in his feelings for Dani. But while she’s everything he’s ever wanted, he knows his place on her staff–and his age–may be problematic for his sexy boss. How can he convince her to ignore the gossip mill currently in full swing in the teacher’s lounge and surrender to what’s meant to be?

Sandy James lives in a quiet suburb of Indianapolis with her husband. She’s a high school social studies teacher who especially loves psychology and United States history. Since she and her husband own a small stable of harness racehorses, they often spend time together at the two Indiana racetracks.

Disclosure: Imperfect Women and the participating bloggers were not compensated for this post. We are not associated with any of the companies named above. No purchase is necessary to enter. The odds of winning are based on the number of entries received Open to US and Canadian residents only. The sponsor(s) will be responsible for product shipment to winner(s) of this giveaway. This event is in no way administered, sponsored, or endorsed by, or associated with, Facebook and/or Twitter, Google, Pinterest. This disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements. Entrants must only enter with either one email address, IP address and/or Facebook account, anyone found violating these rules will be disqualified. It is at the sole discretion of the admin of the giveaway if the winner has met the rules or not.

This is the third book in a series where the plot points carry over. All plot points will be resolved by book FIVE – the end of the series.
This is a sweet style romance.

With her heart at war with her mind, Lisa’s need to chase dangerous fun over boring responsibilities tugs at her emotions. Love is the last thing she expects to find, especially with her past revolting against her future.

The only love Ryan’s heart has room for is for his motherless son. But, when he finds himself yearning for Lisa, Ryan has to convince himself and her that he’s all the thrill she’ll ever need.

Will Lisa’s past destroy their future before either of them can accept the true meaning of love?

Bonnie R. Paulson mixes her science and medical background with reality and possibilities to make even myths seem likely and give every romance the genetic strength to survive. Bonnie has discovered a dark and twisty turn in her writing that she hopes you enjoy as much as she has enjoyed uncovering it. Dirt biking with her family in the Northwest keeps her sane.

Swinging the door open, she planted her hand on her hip and lifted her chin. “Yeah?”

The man turned revealing his tawny coloring and intense brown gaze. “Good morning, Ms. Trinkett. I hope I’m not catching you at an inopportune time.” He shouldered his way into the small room, his size shrinking the room to playhouse scale.

Internally, Lisa moaned and not in a good way. “Mendez. What do you want?” She crossed her arms over her chest, wishing she’d donned a bra before tossing on her slight clothing.

The federal agent didn’t even look at her as he perused the apartment like she had a drug cartel stored under her couch cushions and an illegal arms dealership in her cabinets. He studied every corner before finally settling his cool gaze on Lisa.

Arching an eyebrow, he clenched his jaw. “Ms. Trinkett, I thought I made myself clear at the rodeo. Be straight with me and there won’t be any problems.” He lowered his voice and stepped closer, suddenly zeroing his gaze on hers. “But mess with me and my investigation and…” His voice trailed off as he held her gaze.

But Lisa had been threatened by the best of them. She dropped her arms and took a step into his space. She growled from behind teeth that refused to part. “Don’t push me, Mendez. I don’t care who you’re with. I can’t give you information I don’t have. Now get the hell out of my place.”

He retreated, but only a few inches. Considering her, eyes hard with aggression, the agent didn’t speak for a long drawn out moment.

Lisa held her ground, not moving, not relenting under his sabre-like stare.

Switching gears, he became affable and grinning, the whites of his teeth dazzling. “Did you see that girl ride the horse at the rodeo? The one in a wheelchair? She did great. Nice to see traditions adapt.” He turned to the door, pulling it open as he turned back to face her. “Did you know her name is Sara Beth? Just like another girl on Caracus’s list of offspring. Just like you.”